Introduction: the Badiouian-Žižekian politburo--political interventions in the shadow of Lacan -- Alain Badiou: from event to act -- The quick and the dead: Badiou and the split speeds of transformation -- One must have confidence that the other does not exist: select preconditions for events and acts in contemporary circumstances -- Slavoj Žižek: from act to event -- The cynic's fetish: Žižek and the dynamics of belief -- From the spectacular act to the vanishing act: the politics of Lacanian theory -- Appendix A: "Let a thousand flowers bloom!": some brief remarks on and responses to Zizek's "Badiou: notes from an ongoing debate" -- Appendix B: Slavoj Žižek, "An answer to two questions".